
Children Against Hitler
The Young Resistance Heroes of the Second World War
Monica Porter(Author)
Pen & Sword History (Publisher)
Published on 3. April 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
184 pages
978-1-5267-6428-7 (ISBN)
Description
Readers of all generations have grown up on The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier's best-selling tale of children under wartime occupation, but few know the real life stories of the children and teenagers who went further and actually stood up to the Nazis. Here, for the first time, Monica Porter gathers together their stories from many corners of occupied Europe, showing how in a variety of audacious and inventive ways children as young as six resisted the Nazi menace, risking and sometimes even sacrificing their brief lives in the process: a heroism that until now has largely gone unsung.
These courageous youngsters came from all classes and backgrounds. There were high school drop-outs and social misfits, brainy bookworms, the children of farmers and factory workers. Some lost their entire families to the war, yet fought on alone. Often more adept and fearless at resistance than adults, they exuded an air of guilessness and could slip more easily under the Nazi radar. But as nets tightened, many were captured, tortured or imprisoned, some paying the highest price - a life cut short by execution before they had even turned eighteen.
These children were motivated by different ideals; patriotism, political conviction, their Christian beliefs, or revulsion at the brutality of the Third Reich. But what united them was their determination to strike back at an enemy which had deprived them of their freedom, their dignity - and their childhood.
These courageous youngsters came from all classes and backgrounds. There were high school drop-outs and social misfits, brainy bookworms, the children of farmers and factory workers. Some lost their entire families to the war, yet fought on alone. Often more adept and fearless at resistance than adults, they exuded an air of guilessness and could slip more easily under the Nazi radar. But as nets tightened, many were captured, tortured or imprisoned, some paying the highest price - a life cut short by execution before they had even turned eighteen.
These children were motivated by different ideals; patriotism, political conviction, their Christian beliefs, or revulsion at the brutality of the Third Reich. But what united them was their determination to strike back at an enemy which had deprived them of their freedom, their dignity - and their childhood.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Barnsley
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Illustrations
25 black and white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
336 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5267-6428-7 (9781526764287)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2020
Pen and Sword History
€8.49
Available for download
Person
Monica Porter is a London-based journalist who has written for dozens of British newspapers and magazines. She is well-placed to write about wartime resistance, as one of her five previously published books is _Deadly Carousel: A Singer's Story of the Second World War,_ about her own mother Vali Rcz's rescue of Jewish friends in Nazi-occupied Budapest in 1944, for which she was honoured by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among the Nations. For more information about Monica's work see www.monicaporter.co.uk.